Doctor cleared of sexually assaulting five male patients in his surgery

Dr Bharat Shikotra

A doctor has been cleared of sexually assaulting five male patients in his surgery.

Dr Bharat Shikotra stood trial three times facing the same allegations, within almost two years, before finally clearing his name.

Two earlier juries in trials, in January 2014 and January this year, both failed to reach verdicts

When the third jury acquitted him of any sexual impropriety against the patients today (Weds), Judge Simon Hammond told Dr Shikotra: “You can leave the court with your good character and reputation intact.”

He told the jury at Leicester Crown Court: “I can now tell you that two earlier juries could not reach any verdicts.

“This matter should have been dealt with by the General Medical Council (GMC) if they thought something wasn’t quite right.

“It’s taken a long time.

“I’m pleased that justice has been done.

“It was very serious for the doctor whose professional life and liberty were on the line.”

Dr Shikotra, of Elmsleigh Avenue, Leicester, denied the charges, insisting he had acted professionally and appropriately.

He was cleared by the jury of four women and eight men, of two sexual assaults and three counts of assault by penetration.

He was acquitted, on the judges direction, of another sexual assault part way through the trial, when the prosecution offered no evidence on that allegation.

The six alleged offences related to five male patients who claimed that he sexually assaulted them during intimate medical examinations, between 2009 and 2012.

Dr Shikotra (54), who is married, denied any wrongdoing and explained, when giving evidence, that the medical examinations he carried out were necessary, appropriate and not gratuitous.

At the time of the allegations he was working as a GP at the Saffron Surgery at 612 Saffron Lane, Leicester, but has since retired.

After the verdicts were announced he politely declined to comment.

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London: An Indian-origin doctor in the British city of Leicester has been charged with sexually assaulting a patient on a medical bed, a court heard.

Bharat Shikotra, 52, allegedly touched the patient`s private parts and the assault continued for 20 minutes as he “carried out an examination” at Saffron Lane Health Centre in the city Sep 7, 2012, the Leicester Mercury reported Thursday.

However, Shikotra, a married man, denied the charges in the Leicester crown court.
The patient told the court that Shikotra, who took over charge from a retiring colleague in early 2012, questioned him about his homosexuality in several appointments and asked if he had been on “gay websites” seeking a partner.

He said that there was no assistant present in the chamber at that time and the doctor was not wearing surgical gloves.

The patient told the court that Shikotra seemed “obsessed” about information about his private parts.

The victim said that eventually he agreed to a check-up but alleged that Shikotra started “massaging” him intimately and he felt nervous.
“He (the doctor) asked me what turns me on at home,” the victim said.

“I realised by then what I should have realised way before – that what he was doing was wrong,” he added.

The victim alleged that he did not know what to do.

The accuser said, after leaving the doctor`s chamber “in a daze”, he confided in his sister.

Defence counsel Andrew Hockton, however, accused the alleged victim of “telling lies” and said his allegations were “pure fantasy”.

Hockton said the doctor never made inappropriate comments and carried out “an appropriate medical examination” following a request by the patient.

The complainant reported the matter to a primary care trust three weeks later.

“There was not a single entry (in the medical records) about the examination, what he had done or what he found when he did the examination,” Claire Howell, prosecutor said.

“If a doctor was conducting a legitimate examination, why is not there a record of it in his notes,” the prosecutor asked.